Reference is made to utility application Serial No. 10/034,690 entitled SLAM CAPABLE LATCH AND LOCK SYSTEM filed (concurrently herewith) by Lee S. Weinerman et al, which discloses a locking system for toolboxes and industrial cabinets and the like that can employ push button operating assemblies of the type disclosed in the above-referenced Push Button Lock System Case, and which discloses details of construction and operation of latch mechanisms of a type that may be utilized in the locking system of the present invention, referred to hereinafter as the xe2x80x9cLatch Mechanism Case,xe2x80x9d the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Reference also is made to a pair of design applications Serial Nos. 29/152,852 and 29/152,851 both entitled PORTIONS OF A CLAMP BRACKET ASSEMBLY FOR USE WITH PUSH BUTTON LATCH AND LOCK OPERATING ASSEMBLIES filed (concurrently herewith) by Lee S. Weinerman et al, which disclose features of push button operator assemblies that may be utilized in the locking system of the present invention, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking system for toolboxes, industrial cabinets and the like that includes at least one push button operator assembly connected by at least one movable link to at least one latch mechanism configured to latchingly engage an associated striker to releasably retain a first structure (such as a closure) on which the striker is mounted in a closed position relative to a second structure (such as a cabinet or a side or end wall of a tool box) on which the locking system is mounted. The push button operator assembly has a button that, when unlocked, can be depressed to move an associated link to unlatch the associated latch mechanisms from latching engagement with their associated strikers, and that, when locked, is inoperable, when depressed, to move the associated link to unlatch the associated latch mechanisms. Push button operator assemblies are disclosed that can move their associated links in one of two opposite directions (to accommodate the directions of link movement needed to unlatch the associated latch mechanisms), and these oppositely acting push button operator assemblies may be combined in a locking system where either can operate all of the latch mechanisms of the system. In preferred practice, the latch mechanisms are of the xe2x80x9cslam capablexe2x80x9d type disclosed in the referenced Latch Mechanism Case, meaning that, even when the associated push button operator assemblies are xe2x80x9clocked,xe2x80x9d the strikers can be slammed into latched engagement with their associated latch mechanisms.
In one typical use, one or more of the slam capable latch mechanisms are mounted on the side or end walls of a tool box for releasably retaining a corresponding number of lid-mounted strikers (each associated with a different one of the latch mechanisms) that may be slammed into engagement with the latch mechanisms by closing the lid, wherein one or more of the push button operator assemblies is/are provided for operating the latch mechanisms, with spaced ones of the latch mechanisms and operator assemblies being connected by one or more elongate links that enable each of the push button operator assemblies to unlatch all of the latch mechanisms from their associated strikers, and with key operated locks preferably being incorporated into the push button operator assemblies in the manner disclosed in the referenced Push Button Operator Assembly Case to enable the push button operator assemblies to be xe2x80x9clockedxe2x80x9d to selectively prevent their push buttons from unlatching the latch assemblies.
2. Prior Art
Latch mechanisms are known that define openings or receiving channels adapted to receive suitably configured strikers that are releasably retained in the openings or channels by hook-shaped arms that pivot to grasp the strikers as they enter the openings or receiving channels. It also is known to attach latch mechanisms of this type to operating devices that include flush mountable, pan shaped housings that nest operating handles that can be moved from non-operated to operated positions to operate (i.e., to xe2x80x9cunlatchxe2x80x9d) the latch mechanisms. Latch mechanisms of this type connected to operating devices of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,984,383 and 5,042,853, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Moreover, it is known to utilize rod-like links to interconnect two or more of the latch mechanisms of the general type described above to provide a plural-point latch system wherein each of the latch mechanisms is associated with and adapted to receive and releasably retain a separate striker, and wherein one or more remotely located operating devices such as push button operator assemblies are provided to concurrently operate (i.e., to simultaneously xe2x80x9cunlatchxe2x80x9d) all of the linkage connected latch mechanisms from their associated strikers. Latch systems of this type are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,816,630 and 5,308,126, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, and in the referenced Push Button Operating Assembly Case.
One feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a push button operator assembly of the type having a housing that surrounds a push button that is movable from a normal position to a depressed position, wherein a clamp-on bracket is provided for pivotally mounting on the housing a link operating lever that is pivotal between one position and another positionxe2x80x94wherein the lever is configured to be engaged by the push button so as to pivot from the one position to the another position in response to movement of the push button from the normal position to the depressed position for the purpose of moving a link that is connected to a latch mechanism for operating the latch mechanism. The clamp-on bracket is configured to clampingly engage an exterior surface of the housing of the push button operator assembly and serves to position at least one pivotal lever so that it will be engaged and pivoted by the push button of the push button operator assembly when the push button is depressed.
Although the basic concept of a clamp-on bracket for engaging an exterior surface of the housing of a push button operator assembly is disclosed in the referenced Push Button Operator Assembly Case, this concept is expanded in the present application by introducing additional embodiments of pivoted link operating levers that are supported by clamp-on brackets that can be quickly and easily installed on external surfaces of the housings of push button operator assemblies.
While a clamp-on bracket employing a pair of threaded fasteners to effect clamping is disclosed in the referenced Push Button Operator Assembly Case, a simpler, easier to install clamp-on bracket is disclosed herein that employs a pair of pivotally connected clamping members that require the tightening of only one threaded fastener to clampingly mount the bracket on an external surface of the housing of a push button operator assembly.
In addition to disclosing a selection of new forms of push button operator assemblies, the present application also discloses how these assemblies can be used in combination with known forms of latch mechanisms, and how these push button operator assemblies can be used with a latch mechanism of a particularly advantageous type that is disclosed in the concurrently-filed Latch Mechanism Case.
Latching and locking systems are disclosed that employ at least one of the push button operator assemblies that has a clamp-on bracket that pivotally mounts a link operating lever. In one simple form, a locking system is provided for releasably retaining a closure in a closed position adjacent a structure that defines an opening that is closed by the closure when the closure is in the closed position, wherein the locking system includes 1) at least a first push button operator assembly having a first housing adapted to be connected to a selected one of the closure and the structure, having a first push button that is movable relative to the first housing between a normal position and a depressed position, and having means for biasing the first push button away from the depressed position toward the normal position, 2) at least a first latch mechanism adapted to be connected to the selected one of the closure and the structure at a location spaced from where the first push button operator assembly is connected to the selected one of the first closure and the structure, wherein the first latch mechanism is adapted to receive and latchingly retain a first striker that is connected to a remaining one of the closure and the structure when the closure is in the closed position, wherein the first latch mechanism has a first latch operating member that is movable between a non-operated position and an operated position, and wherein the first latch mechanism is operable to release the first striker in response to movement of the first latch operating member from the non-operated position to the operated position, 3) wherein the first latch mechanism includes means for defining a first bracket for being clamped into engagement with an exterior surface of the first housing for establishing a rigid connection between the first bracket and the first housing, and means for defining a first arm that is pivotally connected to the first bracket for being engaged by the first push button so as to be pivoted from one position to another position in response to movement of the first push button from the normal position to the depressed position; and, 4) linking means for extending from the push button operating assembly to the first latch mechanism for transmitting an operating force from the first push button operating assembly to the first latch mechanism for moving the first latch operating member from the non-operated position to the operated position in response to movement of the first arm from the one position to the another position in response to movement of the first push button from the normal position to the depressed position for operating the first latch mechanism to release the first striker.